When I started I woke up excited every morning at the thought of my work out ..
but now, though I'm still still waking up early in the morning, I’m not quite sure
excited is the right way to describe it, says OutUK correspondent Ross van Metzke.
Some days I’m raring to go… some days I want to beat the
living crap out of David Rich, his Web-based workout plan and whatever lame arse came
up with the idea for this f-ing story in the first place.

Oh yeah, it was my idea—my way of ensuring I’d actually get my ass up every morning and go to the gym.
Because if I fail, it’s not just me I’m letting down, but every last one of you who reads this column,
which on any given week could be anywhere from 10,000 people to my mum.

OK, all joking aside, I think I may have finally found that rhythm any gym going person with a goal
eventually finds—the “somedays its easier to get out of bed and workout than others” rhythm.
I got to the gym just past eight, warmed up with 10 minutes of abs and made my way over to the weight
training section.

Eight Drop-Set exercises, three or four sets each. Four sets of back.
Four sets of chest. Four quads, three hamstring, four triceps, biceps, three calves,
three forearms. Yeah, that’s right, I dedicated myself… even made sure to get a protein
shake right after so all of my work would be maximised.

And then I rose Tuesday to do it all again, only this time, I’d only had six hours sleep
(the result of one too many hours spent staring at the computer screen trying to balance
my chequebook—that damn math teacher was right, I would need it) and far too much tea
right before I finally did go to bed. So, whereas Monday I rose with ease, Tuesday,
I had to fight myself every inch of the way—I even required a shower to wake up
before the gym.
The result? Not my finest workout. But as I’ve heard several times from David and
virtually every other trainer worth his hourly fee, giving your all to a work out
when you don’t have much to give is still better than no workout at all. So I did
my drop sets with a little less oomph (and a little less weight) and managed to
work my way into a brief version of that ten minute ab workout.

And you know what’s funny?

Tired and unmotivated as I was, I actually felt better and ready to face the day when
all was done.

That energy carried over into yesterday morning when, for the second time in a week,
I managed something I previously found unfathomable. I did a full 40 minutes of cardio.

Now some of you are probably saying ‘Wow. He ran! Big deal!’ How little you know me.
I’m that kid who used cramps, bad knees, asthma (I’d have pulled the ‘I’m on my period’
card if I thought I had a shot in hell of pulling it off) to get out of running as a kid.
And, as an adult, my alleged 40 minutes of cardio capped out at 15, 20 max.

But in recent weeks, I’ve found mixing it up is the way to go. Fifteen minutes on the
treadmill, followed by 10 minutes on the stairmaster, followed by 15 minutes on the
elliptical. Sometimes I jump rope. Sometimes I hike. This morning I even made nice
with the rowing machine. The point is if I break it up, it doesn’t feel like 40 minutes.
It feels like three different workouts and that I can wrap my brain around.

As for the physical results, well, I’m topping the scales now at a whopping 163lbs,
meaning I am 6 pounds heavier than I was when I started. I’m not checking body fat
percentage. The fact that the belly roll on the side of my waist has all but
disappeared tells me I’m moving in the right direction. And with any luck, when
I take my shirt off next week for all of you to see, it won’t have magically re-appeared.

So there we are folks...check out some of these extra workouts David tags on to the
end (barbell workouts, ab workouts, beach workouts). On a day when you need a little
inspiration, the sudden change up goes a long way toward helping—trust me.

Until next time (when David’s pics make way for my reveal), thanks for reading and happy exercising.

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